Verse 51

⁵¹So be it, he said, agreeing to what the teacher's sons had said, and he added: Let him be taught the duty that belongs to kings who keep a house. ⁵²So, king, they spoke to Prahlada of dharma, of wealth and of desire, thoroughly and each in its order, and he was modest before them and bowed. ⁵³The three ends were taught him by his teachers for his own good, but he did not think that teaching good, laid out as it was by men who take their pleasure in the pairs of opposites. ⁵⁴Whenever the teacher turned away to the business of his household, the boys of his own age, having got themselves a free hour, called him over to them there.

⁵⁵Then the greatly wise boy called them back to him in smooth words, and, knowing what he knew, spoke to them of what one should be settled in, out of pity, and almost laughing. ⁵⁶Out of their regard for him they all put down their playthings: boys whose minds had not yet been spoiled by the doings urged on them by those who take their pleasure in the pairs of opposites. ⁵⁷They sat around him, lord of kings, with their hearts and their eyes given over to him; and the demon, full of pity, a friend to them, great among the Lord's own, spoke to them.